1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a user interface by which a computer user picks colors for use in computerized documents, and particularly relates to a user interface which displays colors selectable by the user such that for the selectable colors, only in-gamut colors are displayed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Application programs for document creation have become increasingly sophisticated in their incorporation of color into the document. Such document creation tools include word processors such as Microsoft® Word and Corel® WordPerfect®, presentation tools such as Microsoft's PowerPoint® and Corel's CorelDRAW®, and even database and spreadsheet programs.
Typical users of such application programs are often disappointed by the color quality obtained when the final document is printed or otherwise output. One reason for this is that the users are creating their document on one output device (usually a CRT monitor or LCD display), whereas the final presentation of the document is on another output device, such as printed by a printer on paper or projected with a video projector. It is well known that there are significant differences between the gamut of colors producible by these different output devices. A user, however, might unwittingly select colors that are within the gamut of his monitor but outside the gamut of the output device. Thus, colors outside the gamut of the output device are adjusted when output, and users often do not like the final result.
For simplicity in terminology, the output device on which the user creates his document (such as a CRT monitor or LCD display) will hereinafter be referred to as “working output device”, whereas the output device for the final document (such as a printer or projector) will hereinafter be referred to as “target output device”.
One solution commonly offered is called “print preview” or “soft proof”. Here, the user is allowed to preview, on the working output device, colors as they would appear when output by the target output device. One problem with this approach is that although the user can preview the output, he still might dislike the result.
Another proposal offered in more sophisticated software is an “out-of-gamut warning”. For example, later versions of Adobe's Photoshop program provide an out-of-gamut warning when a user selects a color displayable on a monitor but not printable by a printer. In addition, the closest in-gamut color is displayed. Like the aforementioned soft-proofing process, however, this approach has a drawback in that nothing is done to prevent the user from selecting an out-of-gamut color. Accordingly, if the warning is ignored, or if (more commonly) the warning is not well-understood, the user will select a color that is not in-gamut for the target output device and will likely be displeased with the result.